>> it could change history or be so inconsequential we'll forget all about it. the first presidential debate is tomorrow night. >> the two candidates and everybody in our news room spent this entire day getting ready for it. but if you've been actually following politics this year,

you're probably not the voter those candidates want to impress. gary nurenberg is here with what we can all expect. gary? >> reporter: the targets are the increasingly smaller number of voters who haven't made up their minds yet. they'll be hard to convince without alienating voters already committed. the romney and obama campaigns agree on this. >> it is about the four or five percent of people who haven't been paying much attention to the campaign who haven't made up their minds. >> reporter: american university professor bob lehman. >> anything is possible in a debate. but in order for it to have real impact, romney would have to take risks and obama make mistakes. >> reporter: the risks for romney moving to the center in order to appeal to centrist voters risking setting off the right. still for for the ongoing ad war. >> people say romney should

come in with zingers and try to make obama lose his cool. >> reporter: zingers make debate history. dan quail was comparing himself to jack kennedy. >> senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> but here's the punch line of that. who won the election? bush and quail. >> reporter: but staying cool under attack? >> here you go again. >> reporter: you get points. being too cool. >> if kitty dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer. >> no, i don't, bernard. >> reporter: his numbers dropped immediately after the seemingly unfeeling too cool answer. >> substance is more important, but the meaner counts. >> reporter: an impatient george bush checks his watch and suffers for it. >> people said, what, he doesn't think this is important enough to stick around another ten minutes? >> reporter: al gore hurt by his impatient sighing.

this year, look for this. >> i have never seen as much lying as i have in this campaign. >> reporter: wow. well, if that happens tomorrow night, it is our goal to let you know. now, look for substance, but look also for the theatrics. watch the candidates when they leave the wings. the first guy to put out his hand to get the handshake, he wants to be the friendliest, to be in control, to have body language that matters. he's going to grab that elbow, and derek, i'm in control here. >> you know what, nuremberg? let's not get crazy. get out of here. right now on facebook, we are asking what topics you hope the president and mitt romney will be talking about tomorrow night, but tonya writes health care and social security. she's not the only one. chris writes passing a budget. the lack after budget is costing this country way too much. i would also like to see their plans on creating jobs. it should be a plan that increases manufacturing within all states. we want to hear from you, too. so go to the wusa 9 facebook page and tell us what you want

to hear tomorrow night. you can watch the debate live on wusa 9. get to our website where we will be fact checking what the candidates say. then join us for a wrap-up of the debate at 11:00. vice-president joe biden says the middle class has been buried for the last four years. the republicans couldn't agree more. during a campaign stop in charlotte, the v.p. criticized mitt romney for proposing policies that biden said would cut taxes for millionaires and raise them for middle class families. >> this is deadly earnest. how they can justify, how they can justify raising taxes in the middle class that's been buried the last four years, how in lord's name can they justify raising their taxes with these tax cuts. look, folks, we've seen this movie before. >> so the romney camp jumps all over that. a spokeswoman says she couldn't agree more. she said the middle class has

been buried under president obama's policies. new at 11:00, a vicious game caught beating on camera and the man believed to have orchestrated the whole thing is facing up to 25 years in prison following a guilty verdict. today our ken molestina was in that courtroom. he's got the disturbing images. >> reporter: montgomery county prosecutor say you're looking at a gang beating in action. it happened in the 18,000 block of cottage garden drive in germantown in april. the dispute was reportedly over a girl. the teen victim was supposed to be settling the beef with another teen. instead, prosecutors say it became something much worse, thanks to this man, 22-year-old powell. >> the police stated that he's a known member, if not leader of the crips gang. >> reporter: investigators say powell used his role as a boss with the street gang rolling 20's crip to orchestrate the violent encounter. it's hard to see about but powell was seen in the video also participating in the video. on tuesday he was convicted of

second degree assault and robbery. >> i feel like it's racial profiling, i do in every sense of the word. >> reporter: his grandmother says he didn't get a fair shake in the judicial process. six others took plea deals but he was the only one who stood trial. she refuses to believe her grandson is a gang banger and says these images don't prove anything. she says what you're seeing is up to interpretation. >> if somebody is laying flat on the ground and they go to swing and they're doing like this, how are you hitting somebody from the ground. >> reporter: that video was taken right here in this parking lot area. it was recorded by a woman with the group using a cell phone camera. she then uploaded the images to facebook and that's how prosecutors came across what they're calling the most crucial piece of evidence in this case. >> the video shows clearly that this defendant, mr. powell, was the assailant, the main actor. >> reporter: powell will be sentenced in december. in montgomery county, ken

molestina, 9 news. ten years ago tonight marked the start of a three- week reign of terror in our region, the sniper shooting. the first shooting took place on april 2, 2002. a man was shot in the parking lot of the shopper's food paradise in wheaton and the next morning four more people were shot to death. the snipers would kill ten people in all and injury three others. john allen muhammad and malvoy. one sentenced to life in prison and one executed. casey worried she won't get a fair trial in florida. gonzalez is suing anthony. she claims she was harassed and threatened after anthony came up with a fictitious nanny named after her who she claimed kidnapped her daughter, caylee. when gonzalez's lawyer said the change of venue motion is only

an attempt by anthony to delay the trial. a hearing on all of this set for later this month. jimmy who have fa is definitely -- hoffa is definitely not under the driveway of this home. last week police acting on a tip took soil samples. the results came back today and there's no trace of human decomposition. he disappeared in 1975. the day he vanished he was supposed to meet with a new jersey timesters boss and a de- -teamsters boss and a detroit mafia captain. a former penn state graduate student who testified he saw jerry sandusky showering with a boy in 2001 is suing penn state. mike mcqueary is seeking millions of dollars in damages. he claims his treatment by the university has caused him distress and embarrassment. mcqueary was put on administrative leave in november. his contract expired in june. sandusky was convicted of molesting boys but maintains his innocence. a food alert that can make

your stomach turn, but this next story will really gross you out. a chinese restaurant in kentucky accused of serving up road kill. you heard me right. road kill. in fact, a customer saw them hauling in a dead deer during lunch and quickly called 911. >> there was like a tail this big, a fuzzy tail and a leg sticking out of a garbage can. they were wheeling it in really quick like trying to hurry. one of the other employees were like mopping up the blood dripping out of the garbage can on to the floor. >> i knew that food didn't taste quite right. the sheriff said he's not sure if the restaurant has done it before but for now, they've been shut down. next time you see a man a tee and -- manatee and you're thinking about jumping on for a ride don't do it. this woman did it and is wanted by the cops.

it's illegal and now police are trying to figure out who the woman is and they're tracking her down. this tv anchor was criticized by a viewer for her weight. today she gave him a piece of her mind. you don't want to miss her response which has gone viral. plus, your kids drink milk at school? one health group doesn't think it should be on the menu. their antidairy campaign is raising eyebrows. a special health alert coming up. nothing on radar right now, but dense fog will be a problem in the morning. allow a little extra time. your wakeup weather, temps in the 60s. low 70s by 9:00. a lot of fog. it's going to take a long time for that fog to burn off. we'll come back and talk about the prospect of more thunderstorms tomorrow and look ahead to a fine finish to the week. here's today's facts on face the facts, usa. too many americans are struggling to find work

in today's economy. too many of those who are working are living paycheck to paycheck trying to make falling incomes meet rising prices for food and gas. more americans are living in poverty than when president obama took office and fifteen million more are on food stamps. president obama and i both care about poor and middle-class families.

the difference is my policies will make things better for them. we shouldn't measure compassion by how many people are on welfare. we should measure compassion by how many people are able to get off welfare and get a good paying job. my plan will create twelve million new jobs over the next four years helping lift families out of poverty and strengthening the middle-class. i'm mitt romney and i approve this message because we can't afford another four years like the last four years. ♪ if there's one complaint we've heard quite a bit this political season is the leaders and their potential replacements are playing small ball when our actual challenges as a nation are as big as can be. tonight derek says he may have a solution. >> i would take both down to

new orleans, give them a tour of that city's world war ii museum. i was lucky enough to get through there a few weeks back. let me just tell you, it's not so much a history lesson on our glorious past as it is a no holds bar reminder of just how tough that past actually was. i mean, think about it. your whole generation is going off to war, and back home, they're rationing steel, rubber, even food. i'm thinking it probably didn't feel all that glorious. and this went on for years. nobody loved it, but everybody lived it. but today, today sacrifice is a dirty word in our politics, and you can bet you will not hear it from either candidate in tomorrow's debate. they're scared. but i continue to believe they're also wrong. wrong about us, as americans. dudes, how about a little more courage, how about a little more leadership, how about spending less time telling us how great we are and more about how great we can be once we make some admittedly difficult

choices. let's be real. we are starving for that sort of leadership and i think if one of them was brave enough to ask us, i think we would be brave enough to step up. after all, we've done it before. anita? >> yes, we have, derek. good thought. milk. it does a body good. it's a slogan we've all heard and one many parents embrace because we want our kids to get plenty of calcium for strong teeth and bones but a vee began health -- vegan health advocacy group says children don't really need milk. bottles of milk were everywhere in the cafeteria of singer elementary school in silver springs. the u.s. department of agriculture includes low-fat milk as a required food in school lunches. even those kids who brown bag it from home often buy milk to go with it. the physician's committee for responsible medicine would like to see that change. >> i think that the dairy lobby does a really good job to

convince people that this is the only source and the best source of calcium for kids or for anyone, and it's not. >> reporter: registereddietician says there are many sources of calcium and protein that don't contain the saturated fat and lactose or dairy sugar that's in milk, including broccoli, tofu, kale and collared greens. >> you can eat the green leafy vegetables, too. you can eat the beans and greens and get the nutrients you need in the healthiest source possible. >> the petition says kids don't need milk and that's just really difficult and not true. >> reporter: carrie fry represents a dairy industry group that finds pcrn antimilk campaign outrageous. >> if you wanted to make up the available calcium in one cup of milk, you would need 13 servings of pinto beans, and 15 half cup servings of spinach to make up that available calcium, and i don't think kids are

going to eat that much. >> reporter: a spokesperson with montgomery county schools says they haven't heard from parents who want this kind of change, and it's unlikely to happen. but pcrm is also targeting the general public with its message, returning ads in the d.c. metro system that plays on the first lady's let's move campaign toadvocate moving milk and cheese out of school lunches. >> it's really a sensationalist ad campaign that has an animal rights agenda. it's not based on science. >> there's absolutely no biological reason for any human or mammal to drink milk after weaning and certainly the milk of another species. it's completely out of the ordinary and therefore there's really no biological reason to do it. >> reporter: okay, so obviously strong sentiments that is on both sides of this debate, including whether the latest science shows milk helps prevent bone fractures or not. what do you think about milk as a school lunch program? voice your opinion on our wusa

9 facebook page. >> i think it would be tough to put pinto beans on your lucky charms. i'm just saying. we get a lot of mail from viewers. a tv anchor in wisconsin had to speak up after one viewer attacked her for being overweight. jennifer livingston got an e- mail from a man who said her size wasn't a suitable example for the community's young people and the letter went viral after her husband, a fellow anchor, posted it online. she addressed her rude viewer on the air today and anybody else who may be the victim of bullying. >> that man's words mean nothing to me. but what really angers me about this is there are children who don't know better, who get e- mails as critical as the one i received or in many cases even worse each and every day. the internet has become a weapon. our schools have become a battleground. and this behavior is learned.

it is passed down from people like the man who wrote me that e-mail. if you are at home, and you are talking about the fat news lady, guess what? your children are probably going to go to school and call someone fat. >> livingston went on to thank the hundreds of people who supported her. she said she wants to use this opportunity to teach kids not to let your self-worth be defined by what other folks stay but. october is national antibullying month and she's got a good message and a lot of guts to speak up. >> you guys know i'm so about the healthy lifestyle and trying to live that kind of an image and all that, but to attack someone, one part we didn't show earlier, she said to the man, you don't think i know i have a weight issue? you don't think i'm struggling with this? you send this e-mail, you're not my friend, you're not my family, you have no business. she's right. >> absolutely. all right, tom with. >> we've got a tale of two systems right now, a contrast. first i want to show you fog.

it is dense. it's pea soup outside. this is wisconsin avenue. you couldn't tell it but it's from our rooftop camera, michael and son weather cam. high was 72. it is still 72. temps have not gone down at all. dew point is 70, which is miserable for early october, quite frankly. and winds are light and the pressure is 2 mpled 926 inchesof mercury. we're going to go from pea soup to a dust storm in paris, california, in riverside county. it's not super big but it gets bigger, and i tell you what, this is spinning just like a little tiny tornado. it's a violently rotating column of air just picking up dust. that's how we can see it. this actually produced a little bit of damage, as it moved off to the north and the east. you didn't see that too often in california. you see it more often in arizona. let's go back to the maps. we'll talk about the next system heading our way. we've got the system just kind

of drifting into western kentucky, but the warm front, and that's really the key, is finally going to go through us tomorrow. that's going to do a couple of things. it will make us warmer and give us more sunshine than today. we pretty much have to have more sunshine than today. we have none. here's a look at the radar. a couple of showers popping up around culpeper. we had showers earlier in southern maryland. for the most part, we're just looking at clouds and light drizzle and fog. some showers popping up now moving northward that will cross 66 here shortly. some of them are going to produce moderate rain. just in the last hour, we see the yellows and the oranges around warrenton. some moderate rain possible there. it will head towards leesburg and middleburgh. some fog early, no doubt about that p. turning warmer, no doubt about that either. thunderstorm possible tomorrow, but they're going to be kind of far and few between. a little better chance in the mountains, and just great on thursday. next three days, code green,

green and green. a slight chance of a storm tomorrow, 85. again, it may take quite awhile to burn the fog and clouds off early. great on thursday, 84. fantastic on friday, mostly sunny. temperatures in the low 80s. next seven days, cold front comes in on the weekend. some showers possible. possibly before the maryland game is over. still mild, not warm, mid-70s. then some showers trying to end before the redskin game begins, but very cool. if you're dale gating or going -- tailgating or going to the game, that's your high. >> we have a fall fest going on. >> yeah, we do. >> take your umbrellas, okay. >> 80s and 70s and 60s. so the nationals will not win 100 games this year, but they still have some goals for the season. >> they still want to get the best record in baseball. that's going to help their post- season, so to speak. they're at it again tonight. a lot of the starters are trying to get out of their current slump, and keep going before the playoffs start. find out who was tonight's mvp

in their game. plus the wizards hit the court again, but without john wall, how will they compensate for that loss? sports is next.

the majority of the nationals regular starters got a much deserved night off tonight. adam laroche still played. davy johnson announced that geo gonzalez will sit and start game one whenever that may be. so instead tom got the green light. he lasted 3 and 2/3 innings. one run, five strikeouts. adam laroche has his 33rd home run tonight, a career high for him and picks up his 100th rbi of the season. he's taking his curtain call. that fan got it right tonight on the mvp sign. roger bernardino with the speed gets in under the tag. he is safe. the shark will be a vital runner once the post-season begins. nats win 4-2. >> i didn't think, you know, coming from last night and feeling we got there, i didn't think it would get any better but this is pretty special

today. >> the kind of year we've had, it would be fitting to finish it off with the best record. and more importantly, i would like to see jackson get -- >> orioles visiting the rays in tampa bay. the hit of the game, a home run to center field. way out there. it turned out to be really allthe orioles needed. they win 1-0. good game. amongst all the mlb celebrations and the excitement surrounding rg3 and the redskins there's another team getting back to work. the washington wizards opened training camp this morning at george mason's patriot center. having to sit and watch from the sideline was john wall. he's recovering from a knee injury and will be out eight weeks. it's a big blow this this team trying to rebuild their team, but owner ernie gruns felled says it's just a bump in the road. his teammates say they're ready

to pick up the slack. >> it's great because i kind of got the natural lead in the locker room. people look up to me. >> i think we have players in here with potential if we can get it together and mesh and be all on the same page, i think we do have the potential to be a playoff team. but we have to see how that works in camp. >> all right, don't forget to cast your vote for a high school game of the week. five games total to choose from this week including two big rivalries. here's your choices. make your picks. and the redskins have the day off but some spent their time helping a good cause. 17 women currently battling breast cancer, alfred morris and others brought them for a day of pampering. they tried on wigs, got their makeup done, got free clothes. they got a tour of the facility. they got to see parts us as the media never got to see. there you see rg3 made an appearance. >> you were there.

>> i was there. it was cool to see the smiles on their faces. that's why i've got my pink on. a really special event. this is one that chris cooley started five years ago. >> we'll be right back. krystal conwell : we see a lot of problems with the...

number of students that we have. resources. materials. things that the children need... on a day-to-day basis. anncr: question seven will help. the department of legislative services says question seven... will mean hundreds of millions of dollars... for schools...from gaming revenues that would have... gone to other states. and independent audits will guarantee the money... goes where it's supposed to. krystal conwell: i think people should vote for question... seven because i think it will be a great benefit to children.

>> good night, folks. see you tomorrow. too many americans are struggling to find work

in today's economy. too many of those who are working are living paycheck to paycheck trying to make falling incomes meet rising prices for food and gas. more americans are living in poverty than when president obama took office and fifteen million more are on food stamps. president obama and i both care

about poor and middle-class families. the difference is my policies will make things better for them. we shouldn't measure compassion by how many people are on welfare. we should measure compassion by how many people are able to get off welfare and get a good paying job. my plan will create twelve million new jobs over the next four years helping lift families out of poverty and strengthening the middle-class. i'm mitt romney and i approve this message because we can't afford another four years like the last four years. ♪